Your Turn: Feb. 21

A supporter of open carry gun laws prepares for a rally in Austin in 2015. A reader disagrees with the latest Texas gun bill, scoffing at its premise.

A supporter of open carry gun laws prepares for a rally in Austin in 2015. A reader disagrees with the latest Texas gun bill, scoffing at its premise.

Photo: Associated Press File Photo

Photo: Associated Press File Photo

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A supporter of open carry gun laws prepares for a rally in Austin in 2015. A reader disagrees with the latest Texas gun bill, scoffing at its premise.

A supporter of open carry gun laws prepares for a rally in Austin in 2015. A reader disagrees with the latest Texas gun bill, scoffing at its premise.

Photo: Associated Press File Photo

Your Turn: Feb. 21

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Only in Texas

House Bill 357 filed by state Rep. Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford, will allow anyone to openly carry a firearm without training, without a background check and without a concealed handgun license.

Stickland calls it “constitutional carry,” yet there is nothing in the Constitution that allows for the open carrying of firearms. The bill defies common sense. It makes many wonder, “What idiot thought of this idea?” and “What idiot would vote for this idea?”

As the saying goes: “No place but Texas.”

John R. Cobarruvias, Houston

Price to go online

Re: “In this capitalism, your data is their profit,” Feb. 11:

Rafael Castillo’s article is a well-thought-out evaluation and reporting of professor Shoshana Zuboff’s vision of our changing times and the use of our personal data by Amazon, Facebook and Google. Everyone is condemning these organizations for mining our private information and selling it to third parties, who pay these internet services huge sums of money while manipulating our buying habits.

My view is slightly less condemning. I have not paid any money to these organizations. No annual, monthly or user fees. So how do people expect these companies to make a profit and pay for their computers, facilities and thousands of employees?

We, as users of their services, have bilateral choices: Use their services, and you will lose your privacy. Don’t use their services, and you can remain obscure to their prying and business models. The real issue is, shouldn’t they ask our permission before they use our personal information?